Sorry for the delay, guys! Family stuff for Thanksgiving and shopping and blah blah basically sorry. Haha, here's the next chappy!

Still don't own Inuyasha.

UPDATED

Enemies in the East

"So what are we doing, exactly?" Kagome asked as Sango dragged her through the halls. "I mean, what all is there to do?"

"Well," Sango responded, "We could draw, or we can watch the soldiers to drills, we can design new-"

"Your life sounds so boring." Kagome grumbled, pausing by one of the windows to look out at the garden again. "Does the garden stretch throughout the entire castle?"

"Pretty much, but in the back is where it's the biggest." Sango stopped with her, "Did you want to go see?"

Kagome gave her a big smile, and with a laugh Sango took her hand again and led her down the stairs.

. . . . . . .

"What did you have to interrupt my breakfast for?" Sesshoumaru asked, no longer in his good mood. He had come home after weeks of being someone's pet, he was back to being not just a demon, but a lord. He had gone to bed an inuyoukai, and awoken with his new human next to him, half naked. He had had a fantastic first night back, and was planning on enjoying his second.

But apparently the children he had left in charge had no idea how to keep his kingdom safe for a few weeks.

"Wolf demons, my lord." He replied, trying to keep himself looking strong and able, despite the obvious fact that Sesshoumaru was more than disappointed with what had happened while he was away.

"So destroy them, how hard could it be?" Sesshoumaru snarled, eyes already bleeding to red. His control was slipping, and he was well aware.

"There are thousands of them, my lord. It is not that easy."

"Apparently not for someone of your insignificant strengths." Sesshoumaru waved him away as he approached the map on the table. It was stretched farther than he was tall on either side, with markers of each army and tribe. "What exactly are they doing?"

"They are killing every one of your forces they can get their hand on. We figure their point is to get your attention, sir."

"They've gotten it," Sessoumaru growled. The wolf demons had the audacity to compare themselves to his power? Then he would give them a good show of it. See if they wanted to continue this venture.

. . . . . . . .

Kagome picked a flower for which she had no name and inhaled it's lovely scent; she already had an armful and wanted to make a bouquet for the room, and was enjoying picking every random flower she could carry. She turned to Sango, who had her own armful, and held it out, "I like this one too, what do you think?"

Sango laughed, "It's one of my favorites as well, but don't you think you have enough?"

"Do you think we could have lunch out here?" Kagome asked, ignoring her question as she picked another.

"We can, with Lord Sesshoumaru's permission." She explained, "There is an area specifically for it just around the corner, actually."

Following Sango's directions, Kagome moved past trees and tall bushes until she came to a small bridge over a small pond, with a tiny island in the middle. On it was a table and three chairs as pretty as the garden.

"Oh wow!" Kagome exclaimed, "Let's definitely eat here!"

"We'll have to find Lord Sesshoumaru to ask-"

"Do we really have to ask to eat outside?" Kagome snapped, stomping back towards the castle.

"If we don't we'll be punished… both of us." Sango looked at the ground.

"Fine, we'll ask." Kagome sighed. She didn't mind getting in trouble, but she didn't want to drag Sango down with her, that was unfair.

"Come on, let's go find vases for these."

The girls walked back, Kagome stopping every two steps to pick more, and entered in through the main hall. Sango led her to wear they kept the palace decour, and together they searched for the best vases.

Kagome, enjoying the gold, expensive decorations, picked the loudest, most gaudy of the group. She tried to make the flowers look good, but admittedly it looked like a bit of a mess. Three vases, each with a random assortment of colors, sizes, and designs, thrown together in a vase meant for much simpler flowers.

"Perfect," Kagome smiled, picking up two. "Come on, let's go put them in the room."

Sango begrudgingly complied, grabbing the last vase and following Kagome up stairs.

"You know," Sango said as they trudged up the steps, "This isn't all that much more fun than watching the soldiers train."

Kagome turned to her with a sly smile, "Was there someone specific you were hoping to watch?"

"No!" Sango helped, her hands slipped out of the hold she had on the vase. It shattered when it the stairs, spreading along them like a pretty design. A few pieces and flowers fell to the floor a mile down, making both girls pause, unsure of what to do.

"I-I'm sorry, I need to clean this up." Sango turned, moving to do just that, but stopped when Kagome lightly grasped her arm.

"No Sango, I'm sorry." She gave her an apologetic look, "I meant it as a joke, I forgot ...the rules. I didn't mean to scare you."

Sango let out a breath, relieved to hear the words out loud. "It's forgiven, I just wish I had understood your meaning." She looked down at the water and shards of gold at her feet. "I still need to clean this." Kagome nodded, setting her own vases down.

"It won't take too long with us both doing it."

While Sango fetched a cloth to sop up the water, Kagome gathered the flowers and shards. She stuffed the extra flowers in the other vases, refusing to get rid of them. By the time she had finished with the flowers, Sango had thrown the shards away and all that was left was a wet spot on the carpet.

"Come on, that room needs brightening."

On the way to the room at last, Kagome paused by the lone door at the end of the hall just before the turn to Sesshoumaru's room. It was a little out of the way, and judging by the size of the wall to either side, Kagome figured behind it was a large room. "What's in there?" She asked, setting down the vases and turning the handle. It jiggled, signaling to her that it was locked.

"No one knows for sure, except Lord Sesshoumaru." Sango told her, "It's his study."

Kagome nodded, curious but not enough to break down the door just yet. She picked the vases back up and walked into the room she was forced to share with Lord Assface. She put the biggest on the main table in the entrance of the room, another on the bedside table.

"I think it brings the room together." Kagome smiled. "Or at least makes it look less ...serious."

"I think it looks like a mess," Sango said truthfully, laughing at Kagome's glare. "But I like it!"

. . . . . .

"Where are the wolf forces now?" Sesshoumaru asked, studying the map, "What are they going for next?"

One of his least favorite captains of the moment pointed to one of the larger marketplaces of the West. "Our intelligence tells us that they plan to not only destroy the entirety of the market, but they also plan to kill everyone with allegiance to you. Whether they are civilians or not."

"What is this, some sort of rebellion?" Sesshoumaru rubbed his eyes.

"Of sorts, yes. But more of a take over."

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, "They think they can take over the West?"

"They have taken your absence as a sign that they-"

"They know I have been gone?" Sesshoumaru roared; to hell with control.

The two men in the room had the intelligence to flinch away, "They uh, yes sir, they know." He seemed to think better of lying.

The demon lord stepped in front of them, only a foot away and asked all too calmly, "And how do they know this?"

The two glanced at each other, making Sesshoumaru only angrier. "They were told."

"By who?!" He practically yelled.

"The last time we went to confront them," the first demon swallowed, "We were talking and-"

"You told them?"

The demon didn't answer, he just stared in terror, hoping to Kami Sesshoumaru wouldn't gut him.

Sesshoumaru didn't gut him, he beheaded him.

With one quick slash his head unattached and fell to the floor with a splat. It rolled, stopping inches away from Sesshoumaru's foot as if it knew not to touch him. He was tempted to sate his hunger on the kill, but wouldn't let himself feed on something so weak.

He looked up at the second man. "Inform the men, you and fifty are to leave the castle immediately to stop the attack." He went for the door.

"Fifty? Sir, there are hundreds of them!"

"If you do not succeed, do not return." He glanced back. "And clean that up."

. . . . . . .

"So where is he anyway?" Kagome asked, fiddling with the already drooping flowers.

"Probably in a meeting about some problem with the kingdoms," Sango shrugged, "That's generally what he does all day."

"What problems could he possibly have?" Kagome frowned, "No one even says a thing against him, what would they dare do?"

"Those are just those that live here," Sango sat down on the edge of the bed, "But there are a lot of people out there who disagree with the way Lord Sesshoumaru runs things. So they rebel."

Kagome nodded, "Just like every country, kingdom, or even village in the world."

"Plus, Lord Sesshoumaru has been gone for a while, so things have probably been piling up."

As interesting as this is… "Is there anything to do that's fun around here?" Kagome groaned, never realizing just how much she would miss having a laptop. She knew she had asked the exact question earlier, but maybe the answer had changed.

"We can take a bath." Sango suggested, but Kagome pouted. "Or not."

"Swimming would be better, but I don't even feel like that." She sighed; this was the exact reason she never envied those in the past. "Do you have any books?"

"Most of us don't know how to read."

"What?" Kagome gasped, "Well then that's it, then. I'm teaching you how to read." She looked around for a moment and grabbed a piece of thick paper and a quill and ink.

"Sit," she ordered, pointing at the chair across from her.

Sango complied, sitting next to her and looking at the paper as Kagome began to write.

"We'll start with the alphabet." Kagome began to write, saying the letters as she wrote them. When she was done, she began to write the words that went with them. "Apple, banana, cat, dog, elephant-"

"What's an elephant?" Sango asked, and Kagome paused, not sure how to describe the animal.

"Ok, egg." She smiled, "Fly, Ground-"

"And these are words that start with that letter?"

Kagome blinked, for the first time realizing she could never be teacher. She may have the knowledge necessary, but certainly not the ideas to make it interesting enough for others to learn. Sango may have looked interested enough, but Kagome guessed it would be exceedingly difficult as they moved onto harder things to help her understand. "Yeah," she stated simply before continuing.

"Xyolphone?" Sango frowned, making Kagome wish she knew more words that started with 'x'.

"Um," she bit her lip. "It's like…" what was it like? Did they have pianos? "It's a musical instrument, here." She began to draw, crudely, a xylophone next to the word.

Sango nodded, "Ok. Got it."

Kagome suspected differently, but continued on.

"Wait, what's a zebra? And how come this letter sounds like the x from earlier?" Sango pointed to the 'z' and 'x' on her paper.

Kagome wanted to go back home, if only to get a book with all the pictures she would need for this lesson. "It's like a horse, but with black and white stripes." Sango looked fascinated by the idea. "And… I don't really know how to explain why they sound alike without going into a long explanation. The best way to describe it is…" she thought for a moment. "It's like the word knife," she said, writing out the word. "It starts with a 'k' but it's silent."

Sango blinked at her, "Oh. Ok, I understand." She gave her a look that said clearly she didn't entirely understand.

Kagome started to giggle, "I'm sorry, for some reason I thought this would be easier."

Sango smiled, "It's alright, I'm sure I'll get it eventually."

"I hope so, reading is truly wonderful."

"Well perhaps you will just have to read to me for now," she suggested.

Kagome smiled wider, "That is a great idea."

"But for the moment," she pointed to the few drawings Kagome had had to make. "You must tell me more about the animals from your world."

Sango seemed absolutely enthralled with every creature Kagome could come up with. She didn't know every animal in the world, but she knew enough to keep Sango on the edge of her seat, and that was better than any gold vase full of beautiful flowers.

"And if it touches you, you'll die?"

"Well, not necessarily, if you touch the top then you'll be ok, it's the little tentacle things that hurt. But they don't always kill you." Kagome explained.

"Jellyfish." Sango said again, testing the word out as if it was the best thing she'd ever said. "They're my new favorite." She smiled wide. "What does it look like, again?"

Kagome pulled out a new piece of paper and began to draw, she was far from being an artist, but it came out looking pretty good. "Here, this is for you." She wrote "Jellyfish" at the top and handed it to her. Sango squealed, unable to take her eyes off the paper.

Until the door opened.

"Leave." Sesshoumaru ordered before Sango even opened her mouth. She instantly popped to her feet and went for the door, bowing before exiting, and shooting Kagome a silent goodbye.

The encounter happened so quickly that Kagome didn't bother getting up, she also didn't bother hiding her distaste with just how rude he was. She went right back to drawing. She truthfully didn't feel like drawing, but it was better than making any eye contact with him.

"What are you doing?" He snapped.

"Drawing." Kagome responded, gesturing to the half-finished crab.

"Why?" Sesshoumaru asked, not entirely caring, but finding himself asking anyway. He was beyond irate, but she had given him pause.

"Because I'm bored." Kagome sighed, leaning back in the chair. "Why did you kick Sango out?" She frowned up at him.

"Because I felt like it," Sesshoumaru grunted, glaring at her with a flash of red in his eyes.

"Why do your eyes do that?" She asked.

Sesshoumaru blinked, taken aback by the sudden change of topic. "Do what?" He asked.

"Turn red."

"That is none of your business." He snarled.

"Fine, can Sango and I eat lunch out in the garden?"

Was she doing this on purpose?

"Why do you want to eat outside?"

"Because I like the garden." Kagome folded her arms.

Sesshoumaru stared pointedly at the flowers on the table, "Evidently." He sighed, "Fine, you may eat outside."

"With Sango?"

"Fine." He rubbed his eyes tiredly, the anger fading for reasons he couldn't understand. He had only been awake for a few hours and already he wished he could go back to being a dog.

"What's wrong?" Kagome found herself asking. She wondered silently why she cared, but decided not to take back the inquiry.

"Business," Sesshoumaru growled, "Stop asking questions."

"Why?"

His eyes flashed again, "Because I said so."

"So?"

His hand was a blur, but suddenly Kagome was off the chair with a cheek that burned. She hesitated, giving herself a moment to reorient herself.

"What the hell was that for?" Touching her cheek tenderly, she started to pull herself back up.

He knelt down, grabbing her chin to stop her. "You need to learn your place before I lose my patience."

"What patience?" She asked, not even trying to get free, it wouldn't work anyway.

He was about to say something, but stop, a smirk crawling along his lips. "Enjoy the rest of the day pet." He rose, going to the door. "I'll see you at dinner."

Kagome sat on the floor, frowning at the door. Why had he come to the room in the first place? And what was so important about dinner?

She had a feeling she really didn't want to find out.